{{Short description|Dutch journalist (1952–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Derk Sauer | image = Derk Sauer (2017).jpg | caption = Sauer in 2017 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1952|10|31|df=y}} | birth_place = Amsterdam, Netherlands | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|07|31|1952|10|31|df=y}} | death_place = Domburg, Netherlands | occupation = Media proprietor | political_party = Socialist Party }}
'''Derk Sauer''' (31 October 1952 – 31 July 2025) was a Dutch journalist and media proprietor who was the founder of ''The Moscow Times''.
== Early life and education == Sauer took his Hogere Burgerschool final exams in 1969 at the Casimir Lyceum in Amstelveen and, as a student, worked for director Gied Jaspars on the VPRO program ''Morgen''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Michielsen |first=Dido |title=Moscow Times. Het Russische avontuur van Derk Sauer en Ellen Verbeek |publisher=Uitgeverij Nieuw Amsterdam |year=2013 |location=Amsterdam, The Netherlands |language=nl |trans-title=Moscow Times: The Russian Adventure of Derk Sauer and Ellen Verbeek}}</ref> At the age of 14, he founded the "Action Group for World Peace" and organized a demonstration in Amstelveen against the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 October 1967 |title=Krant voor jonge mensen |trans-title=Newspaper for young people |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1967/10/28/krant-voor-jonge-mensen-e-eig-n-wijs-op-de-bres-voor-wereldvrede-kb_000034086-a2783892 |access-date=13 July 2025 |work=NRC |language=nl-NL}}</ref> After a short period working at the Maple Leaf chewing gum factory, he permanently moved into journalism.
== Career == Sauer began his journalistic career at ''De Tribune''—the party newspaper of what was then KEN (ml),<ref>Kommunistiese Eenheidsbeweging Nederland (marxisties-leninisties)</ref> now the Socialist Party (SP), when Koos van Zomeren was editor-in-chief there.<ref name=":2" />
In 1970, at the age of 19, Sauer went to Northern Ireland to report on The Troubles for, among others, VPRO radio and De Groene Amsterdammer. In Belfast, he rented a room from the local IRA commander on New Lodge Road, an IRA stronghold.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Dekker |first=Wilco |date=11 February 2014 |title=Novamedia neemt oude liefde over |trans-title=Novamedia acquires former flame |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/novamedia-neemt-oude-liefde-over~b485e07a/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Volkskrant|language=nl}}</ref>
In the early 1970s, he worked with journalist Fons Burger for the VVDM’s monthly magazine ''Twintig''. Starting in 1975, Sauer and Burger wrote as a duo for the weekly magazine ''Nieuwe Revu''. Together with Adriaan Monshouwer, they also founded "Tilt Film" and, along with Bob Visser, created the VPRO TV program ''NEON''. For BBC ''Panorama'', they traveled from Hanoi to Saigon, filmed in Kurdistan and with the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and produced the documentary ''Een Koninkrijk voor een Huis'' ("A Kingdom for a House") about the squatters' riots during the inauguration of Queen Beatrix.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Mediamagnaat Sauer schept 'Italiaanse toestanden' bij NRC Handelsblad - Joop - BNNVARA |trans-title=Media mogul Sauer creates ‘Italian conditions’ at NRC Handelsblad |url=https://www.bnnvara.nl/joop/artikelen/mediamagnaat-sauer-schept-italiaanse-toestanden-bij-nrc-handelsblad |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Joop |language=nl}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Radiodagboek van Derk Sauer |trans-title=Radio diary of Derk Sauer |url=http://www.radio1.nl/contents/14170-radiodagboek-van-derk-sauer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429171051/http://www.radio1.nl/contents/14170-radiodagboek-van-derk-sauer |archive-date=29 April 2010 |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Radio1|language=nl}}</ref>
From 1982 to 1989, Sauer was editor-in-chief of ''Nieuwe Revu''.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=21 June 2014 |title='Derk Sauer onder druk uit rvc NRC gezet' |trans-title=Derk Sauer forced out of NRC supervisory board under pressure |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/derk-sauer-onder-druk-uit-rvc-nrc-gezet~b4d94a19/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Volkskrant |language=nl}}</ref> Under his leadership, well-known journalists, columnists, and cartoonists such as Frits Barend, Henk van Dorp, Boudewijn Büch, Henk Spaan, Ischa Meijer, Karel Glastra van Loon, Gerrit de Jager, and Erwin Olaf also joined the magazine.
===In Russia=== At the end of 1989, Derk Sauer moved to Moscow with his wife, Ellen Verbeek, and their young son at the invitation of VNU to set up a joint venture with the Moscow branch of the Russian Journalists' Union. The goal was to launch the first Russian glossy magazine, ''Moscow Magazine''.<ref name=":3" /> According to Sauer, however, his Russian colleagues turned out not to be journalists but KGB agents.<ref name=":2" />
In 1992, VNU withdrew from Russia, and Sauer and his business partner Annemarie van Gaal decided to stay. Together with the Novamedia group, they founded the publishing company Independent Media in 1992.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 October 2007 |title=The Moscow Times |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/AboutIM.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022104958/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/AboutIM.html |archive-date=22 October 2007 |access-date=26 November 2021 |website=The Moscow Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuper |first=Simon |date=24 October 2005 |title=Футбол на нефтяных дрожжах: олигархам нужен статус |trans-title=Soccer on oil yeast: oligarchs need status |url=https://inosmi.ru/world/20051024/223250.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061606/http://www.inosmi.ru/world/20051024/223250.html |archive-date=21 September 2013 |access-date=26 November 2021 |website=inosmi.ru ИноСМИ.Ru |language=ru}}</ref> That same year, they launched the English-language daily ''The Moscow Times''. Initially, the paper was distributed for free, but when it switched to paid subscriptions, Sauer and Van Gaal continued to incur losses despite its popularity.<ref name=":3" /> Van Gaal then entered into a joint venture with Hearst to publish ''Cosmopolitan'' in Russian, with Ellen Verbeek becoming co-editor-in-chief.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=24 July 2017 |title=Derk Sauer wil met digitale Moscow Times bijdragen aan persvrijheid |trans-title=Derk Sauer wants to contribute to press freedom with a digital Moscow Times |url=https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2184792-derk-sauer-wil-met-digitale-moscow-times-bijdragen-aan-persvrijheid |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=nos.nl |language=nl}}</ref> Russian editions of ''Playboy'', ''FHM'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Good Housekeeping'', ''Esquire'', and ''Men's Health'' followed, turning Independent Media into an international multimedia company and eventually a market leader in Russia.
In 1999, Sauer launched the business newspaper ''Vedomosti'' in a joint venture with the ''Financial Times'' and ''The Wall Street Journal''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=De Lange |first=Wera |date=2 October 1992 |title=Moskou vervult jongensdroom van Derk Sauer |trans-title=Moscow fulfills Derk Sauer’s boyhood dream |url=https://www.trouw.nl/voorpagina/moskou-vervult-jongensdroom-van-derk-sauer~b8556dcc/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fnl.wikipedia.org%2F |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Trouw}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
In 2005 Sauer sold ''The Moscow Times'' to the Finnish Sanoma for €142 million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=4 April 2018 |title=Derk Sauer koopt Moscow Times terug, wil verdienen aan Chinezen |trans-title=Derk Sauer buys back Moscow Times, wants to earn from Chinese |url=https://www.rtlz.nl/business/ondernemen/derk-sauer-koopt-moscow-times-terug-wil-verdienen-aan-chinezen |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404074949/https://www.rtlz.nl/business/ondernemen/derk-sauer-koopt-moscow-times-terug-wil-verdienen-aan-chinezen |archive-date=4 April 2018 |access-date=26 November 2021 |website=rtlz.nl |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Adformatie |first=Redactie |date=1 March 2005 |title=Acquisitie Independent Media door Sanoma rond |url=https://www.adformatie.nl/creatie/craft/acquisitie-independent-media-door-sanoma-rond |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Adformatie |language=nl}}</ref>
In April 2005, Sauer founded the publishing house Nieuw Amsterdam. In 2014, he sold his 50 percent stake to the Novamedia Group.<ref name=":4" />
In 2007, Sauer, together with Frits Barend, Ruud Hendriks, and Pieter Storms, started ''Het Gesprek''—a TV channel dedicated exclusively to interviews and debates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Villamedia |date=27 April 2007 |title=Nieuwe tv-zender Het Gesprek |url=https://www.villamedia.nl/artikel/nieuwe-tv-zender-het-gesprek |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Villamedia — Website over journalistiek |language=nl}}</ref>
In January 2010, Sauer, along with the investment company Egeria, acquired the newspapers ''NRC Handelsblad'' and ''nrc.next'' from PCM Publishers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Benjamin |first=Jan |date=7 February 2015 |title=Verkocht! En maakt zo'n eigenaar nou veel uit? |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2015/02/07/verkocht-en-maakt-zon-eigenaar-nou-veel-uit-1463123-a1087734 |access-date=13 July 2025 |work=NRC |language=nl-NL}}</ref> Due to Sauer’s influence on the editorial direction, Birgit Donker resigned as editor-in-chief of ''NRC Handelsblad'' as of 1 July 2010. Sauer believed that newspapers no longer played a role in reporting breaking news—since other media were faster—but should instead focus more on providing background and analysis.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> In 2014, Sauer was removed from the supervisory board by the main shareholder, Egeria.<ref name=":7" />
===Persecution by Russian authorities=== In 2012, Sauer was invited by liberal oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov to take the lead at his media company RBK. Sauer assembled a new team headed by journalist Liza Osetinskaya, with whom he had formerly worked at ''Vedomosti''. The new editorial direction attracted a large readership, but the Kremlin increased pressure on owner Prokhorov to intervene. In 2015, Sauer stepped down as director of RBK and became vice president of its parent company, ONEXIM.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Derk Sauer stopt als directeur Russisch mediabedrijf RBK |url=https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/derk-sauer-stopt-als-directeur-russisch-mediabedrijf-rbk~b1430583/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Parool}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Derk Sauer: 'Toen een pro-Poetintalkshow zich tegen ons keerde, wist ik dat het fout zat' |url=https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/derk-sauer-toen-een-pro-poetintalkshow-zich-tegen-ons-keerde-wist-ik-dat-het-fout-zat~b52ba42f/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Parool}}</ref>
After ''RBK'' published reports in 2016 on the "Panama Papers" and Vladimir Putin's involvement, masked agents raided Prokhorov’s offices and seized stacks of documents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 April 2016 |title=Russian Authorities Search Offices of Mikhail Prokhorov |url=https://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-mikhail-prokhorov-brooklyn-nets-raid-offices-authorities-search-448074 |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> Several Russian media outlets reported that Sauer was under investigation for fraud, allegedly related to a 2014 share transaction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Derk Sauer genoemd in fraudezaak Rusland |url=https://www.nu.nl/media/4260202/derk-sauer-genoemd-in-fraudezaak-rusland.html |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=NU}}</ref> Sauer dismissed the accusations as "nonsense," suggesting the Russian authorities were likely unhappy with his media companies’ reporting: "The moment they find a company or person bothersome, they dig up some case. This is how thousands of entrepreneurs have ended up in jail."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sauer beschuldigd van fraude, 'zo pakken ze wel vaker ondernemers' |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/buitenland/sauer-beschuldigd-van-fraude-zo-pakken-ze-wel-vaker-ondernemers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404073148/https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/buitenland/sauer-beschuldigd-van-fraude-zo-pakken-ze-wel-vaker-ondernemers |archive-date=4 April 2018 |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=RTL Nieuws}}</ref>
In 2017, Sauer bought back ''The Moscow Times''. At that point, he immediately transitioned the publication to a fully digital format. He did not expect to make money from the project and saw it primarily as a contribution to press freedom in Russia.<ref name=":8" /> He claimed that the paper could serve as a great medium for educating people abroad about underreported domestic subjects.<ref name=":0" />
In 2020, Sauer launched a new Russian business platform, ''VTimes'', together with former journalists from ''Vedomosti''. By 2021, Russian authorities labeled ''VTimes'' a “foreign agent.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 June 2021 |title=Russian Media Outlet VTimes closing after being labeled a "foreign agent" |url=https://thefix.media/2021/06/08/russian-media-outlet-vtimes-closing-after-being-labeled-a-foreign-agent/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=The Fix |language=en}}</ref>
In March 2022, a few weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Sauer and colleagues relocated to Amsterdam. ''The Moscow Times'' was hosted by DPG Media.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Moscow Times van oprichter Derk Sauer vindt onderdak bij DPG Media |url=https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/the-moscow-times-van-oprichter-derk-sauer-vindt-onderdak-bij-dpg-media~a454fc0b/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=AD}}</ref> Soon after, the independent TV station ''TVRain'' (Dozhd) and journalists from the online channel ''Meduza'' joined them, turning Amsterdam into a safe haven for independent Russian journalism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Buitenlandse onafhankelijke media voelen zich veilig in vrijhaven Amsterdam |url=https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/buitenlandse-onafhankelijke-media-voelen-zich-veilig-in-amsterdam-in-iran-zullen-ze-nu-vast-meer-op-ons-letten~b51c2fe2/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Parool}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=4 July 2024 |title=The Russian media sending truth back home |url=https://www.ft.com/content/dc163a95-e858-490b-9739-f2c6d12182bb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240704105632/https://www.ft.com/content/dc163a95-e858-490b-9739-f2c6d12182bb |archive-date=4 July 2024 |work=The Financial Times |quote=Free Russian media seemed doomed. Instead, TV Rain (known in Russia as Dozhd), The Moscow Times and other independent journalists have gathered in Amsterdam, from where they are sending truth back to Russia.}}</ref>
In January 2025, Sauer launched a music label together with Russian music journalist Artemy Troitsky and colleague Jennifer Duin, aimed at supporting bands and artists who are no longer allowed to perform in their home country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Met hulp vanuit Amsterdam wordt verboden muziek Rusland binnengesmokkeld: 'Wij willen het geluid van vrijheid naar Rusland brengen' |url=https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/met-hulp-vanuit-amsterdam-wordt-verboden-muziek-rusland-binnengesmokkeld-wij-willen-het-geluid-van-vrijheid-naar-rusland-brengen~bbef214e/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Parool}}</ref>
== Political views == Sauer, a native of Amsterdam, considered himself a Maoist in the past, having participated in Dutch left-wing politics since his youth. He claimed that the 'Red May' student protests of Paris in 1968, which happened while he was 15 years old, informed much of his political beliefs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bratersky |first=Aleksandr |date=4 June 2003 |title=Дерк САУЭР: "Я считал себя маоистом" |trans-title=Derk Sauer: “I considered myself a Maoist.” |url=https://iz.ru/news/277452 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127172211/https://iz.ru/news/277452 |archive-date=27 November 2020 |access-date=26 November 2021 |website=iz.ru |publisher=Известия (Izvestia) |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Kuper |first=Simon |date=10 October 2005 |title=Russian remodelling of a cosmopolitan theme |url=https://www.ft.com/content/28054942-39af-11da-806e-00000e2511c8 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201211215837/https://www.ft.com/content/28054942-39af-11da-806e-00000e2511c8 |archive-date=11 December 2020 |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> From the age of 17, Sauer was surveilled and wiretapped by the Dutch domestic intelligence service (BVD) for nearly 20 years.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Dohmen |first=Joep |last2=Funnekotter |first2=Bart |date=10 August 2023 |title=‘Ik maakte de schoolkrant, waarom was de BVD daarmee bezig?’ |trans-title=I made the school newspaper, why was the BVD concerned with that? |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/08/10/de-bvd-hield-derk-sauer-bijna-20-jaar-in-de-gaten-als-je-eenmaal-in-die-molen-zit-kom-je-niet-meer-uit-a4171685 |access-date=13 July 2025 |work=NRC |language=nl-NL}}</ref> He later rejected communist ideology and described Mao Zedong as a "monster." He was a member of the Socialist Party of the Netherlands.<ref name=":1" /> In an interview with De Volkskrant in 2022, he stated that he was also a member of the Labour Party and Volt, and advocated for left-wing progressive cooperation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berkeljon |first=Sara |date=22 December 2022 |title=Derk Sauer: 'Mijn vrouw wil niks meer met Russen te maken hebben. Ik heb iets meer begrip' |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/volkskrant-magazine/derk-sauer-mijn-vrouw-wil-niks-meer-met-russen-te-maken-hebben-ik-heb-iets-meer-begrip~b340f7a3/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fnl.wikipedia.org%2F |access-date=7 August 2025 |website=volkskrant.nl}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == Sauer was married to journalist Ellen Verbeek and had three children, one of them a journalist Pjotr Sauer, a reporter with the Guardian. He was a distant cousin of resistance fighter and England voyager Peter Tazelaar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ongeschikt voor een leven in vredestijd |trans-title=Unfit for a life during peacetime |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/ongeschikt-voor-een-leven-in-vredestijd~b4a522bb/ |access-date=13 July 2025 |website=Volkskrant}}</ref>
Sauer died at his home in Domburg on 31 July 2025, at the age of 72, from injuries sustained in a sailing accident in Corfu a few weeks earlier.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 July 2025 |title=Derk Sauer, Moscow Times Founder and Dutch Media Entrepreneur, Dies at 72 |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/07/31/derk-sauer-moscow-times-founder-and-dutch-media-entrepreneur-dies-at-72-a90055 |access-date=31 July 2025 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Eijsvoogel |first=Juurd |date=31 July 2025 |title=Derk Sauer: ondernemend, strijdbaar en voor de duvel niet bang |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/07/31/derk-sauer-ondernemend-strijdbaar-en-voor-de-duvel-niet-bang-a4901841 |access-date=31 July 2025 |work=NRC |language=nl-NL}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kurmanaev |first1=Anatoly |title=Derk Sauer, Champion of Free Press in a New Russia, Dies at 72 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/world/europe/derk-sauer-dead.html#:~:text=Derk%20Sauer%2C%20an%20idealistic%20Dutch,He%20was%2072. |website=The New York Times |last2=Moses |first2=Claire |access-date=2 August 2025 |date=1 August 2025}}</ref>
== References == <references />
==External links== * {{IMDb name| 1544619}} * {{discogs label|TMT Music (3)|name=TMT Music}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauer, Derk}} Category:1952 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century Dutch journalists Category:21st-century Dutch journalists Category:Accidental deaths in the Netherlands Category:Businesspeople from Amsterdam Category:Dutch newspaper publishers (people) Category:Maoists Category:The Moscow Times people Category:Sport deaths in Greece